HOW THE TRADE DEADLINE WENT DOWN FOR THE YANKS

The trade deadline came and went quickly. The Yankees are always tied to a lot of names, but this year it felt different to me. Maybe it’s because this year we weren’t chasing after a huge void on the team, or that front of the line pitcher. This year it was about the extra support, so that sounds easier to get, right? Well….there was a lot of hype right down to the wire but all the talk didn’t pan out to be as exciting. Check out some of the names and how it went down.

Casey McGehee: Welcome to pinstripes! The Yankees do get some infield help with McGehee, trading him to the Pirates in exchange for Chad Qualls. McGehee is a right-handed hitter who primarily plays 3rd base and hits with some power. His .230BA isn’t particularly impressive but, he has does have a nice .807 OPS against lefties this year, which will come in handy. He is a decent defender, and gives Girardi some extra versatility freeing up Jayson Nix to take some starts in left field if needed so Andruw Jones can take some more turns as a DH. McGehee is an upgrade over Ramiro Pena because he is a little more consistent offensively. He definitely gives the Yankees some more options, just don’t count on him stealing any bases, speed is not one of his strengths. Another positive to this trade is he is under team control and arbitration eligible through 2014.

This move definitely gives the Yankees more help in the infield, and frankly, I am surprised that the Pirates gave him up in exchange for Chad Qualls who had a 6.14 ERA during his brief role with the Yankees. In the end, Qualls would have inevitably been cut now that Joba has been activated from the disabled list so there is no down side to this move.

Carlos Lee: The Yankees checked in on Lee. With the uncertainty with Tex’s injury, I can see why they were talking to the Marlins. Lee has a no-trade clause, so when the Marlins asked him about him accepting a trade to the Yankees, he was quick to turn it down. I guess playing as a back-up to Tex wasn’t an option for him. This talk quickly went no-where and he is still in Miami.

Ryan Dempster: The one that got away. The Yankees expressed interest in him on Monday, and they were in heavy discussions with the Cubs. The buzz about this on Tuesday was crazy. Sources were reporting new information every hour. Dempster even said that he would be interested in waving his 10-and-5 rights to join the Yankees so it sounded promising, and who wouldn’t like to see a reunion between Larry Rothschild and Dempster in the Bronx? As the last hour of the trade deadline approached, it still sounded like both the Cubs and the Yankees were very far apart. The Cubs had interest in Angelo Gumbs and Dante Bichette Jr but the Yankees didn’t like the asking price. In the last 10 minutes a teaser was leaked saying that the Yankees “may have” acquired Dempster, but it was just that…a tease and he is now a Texas Ranger.

Shane Victorino: The Yankees were definitely interested in him before Ichiro. The asking price was too steep for us, but the Dodgers were willing to pay up.

Brendan Ryan: The Yankees made an offer to the Mariners, but they declined. Brendan would have been a nice upgrade over Ramiro Pena because he is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. He is also arbitration eligible for one more year making him very affordable and his experience at also second and third base would have been a plus, but no such luck here.

The trade deadline has come and gone…but teams can still make some moves. It will be interesting to see what else develops over the next couple of weeks, and how teams benefit from these moves. The race to the postseason is here….can you feel it? Get ready; it’s going to be a fight to the finish!

The Waiver wires next...let's see what the Yankees do.

--Jeana Bellezza ,BYB Writer and Editor

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